16 Most Beautiful Towns in the World

The 14th-century stone cottages along Arlington Road in Bilbury, England, are the most photographed buildings in this picturesque village.

Bilbury, in the Cotswolds, was called "the most beautiful village in England" by 19th century writer-artist William Morris.

Travel Pictures Ltd / SuperStock

The Alpine views and timber chalets of Wengen, Switzerland, have been attracting travelers since the late 1800s.

The quintessential Alpine town of Wengen looks straight out of Heidi.

Kaehler, Wolfgang/SuperStock

Sweeping Mediterranean views and tons of medieval charm have made Eze a popular stop on the French Riviera.

Arthurr / Dreamstime.com

Simple stone buildings and cobblestone streets add to the charm in Eze.

Tanja Rosso / Dreamstime.com

The fairy-tale village of Eze was a favorite of Walt Disney's.

Samuel Strickler / Dreamstime.com

Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic grew up around the 13th-century Gothic castle of the Lords of Krumlov.

Plotnikov / Dreamstime.com

The cobblestone streets of Cesky Krumlov's Old Town are lined with Gothic, Baroque, and Renaissance buildings housing art galleries, cafes, and quaint B&Bs.

Plotnikov / Dreamstime.com

Cesky Krumlov is set in a valley in Bohemia south of the Blansko Forest and circled by the Vltava River.

Mikhail Markovskiy/Dreamstime.com

The deep blue of the Bay of Tunis makes the perfect backdrop for the white buildings in Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia.

Smandy / Dreamstime.com

All of the buildings in Sidi Bou Said are stark white and adorned with vivid blue doors, shutters, and decorative ironwork.

Smandy / Dreamstime.com

Writers Colette and Simone de Beauvoir were inspired by the village of Sidi Bou Said in northern Tunisia.

Cristian Lisii / Dreamstime.com

The Japanese village of Shirakawa-go is known for houses built in a style known as gassho, resembling hands folded in prayer.

Ekaterina Pokrovsky / Dreamstime.com

The hallmarks of the houses in Shirakawa-go are roofs with 60-degree slopes (to help the snow slide off more easily) and attics used as warm spots for raising silkworms in winter.

Ekaterina Pokrovsky / Dreamstime.com

St. George, Bermuda is the oldest continually occupied English town in the Americas, and little has changed since the Brits established residence here in 1612.

Gavin Hellier/Jon Arnold Images/SuperStock

St Peter's Church in St George is the oldest continuously occupied Anglican church in the Western Hemisphere.

George Oze / Alamy

Beautifully preserved colonial architecture is a hallmark of St. George.

Richard Cummins / SuperStock

The quiet hilltop town of Savoca is only a 40-minute drive from the popular Sicilian resort town of Taormina.

CuboImages srl / Alamy

The Sicilian town of Savoca was famously used as a backdrop for The Godfather, including spots like Bar Vitelli.

Travel Library Limited / SuperStock

Savoca is thought to be about 1,000 years old and contains buildings dating back to Medieval times.

Slavapolo / Dreamstime.com

Pariangan in western Sumatra is said to be the oldest—and most culturally significant—village of the Minangkabau people and has numerous well-preserved examples of traditional Minangkabau pointed-roof architecture.

MichaelJLowe/WikimediaCommons

The Turkish village of Göreme features some of the best-preserved examples of ancient cave churches and monasteries in Cappadocia.

Ollirg / Dreamstime.com

One of the best ways to view the iconic "fairy chimney" rock formations of Göreme is from the air.

Legend has it that General Sherman refused to burn down Madison during his March to the Sea because it was so pretty.

Ian Dagnall/Alamy

Chimayó was settled by the Spanish in the late 1600s and the town became known for weaving, farming, and livestock raising, all of which are still practiced today.

Jon Arnold Images Ltd / Alamy

An aura of mysticism and spirituality surrounds Chimayó, which is in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristos Mountains.

Steve Hamblin / Alamy

There are many spiritual spots in Chimayó, New Mexico, including the Santuario de Chimayó.

Ben Mangor/SuperStock

Caleta Tortel is the Venice of Chile—if Venice had stilt houses and wooden walkways instead of ornate palazzi and stone bridges.

Marka / SuperStock

The colorfully painted houses in Caleta Tortel are built on skinny, raised stilts in the Chilota style.

Marka / SuperStock

Architecture in Niagara-on-the-Lake includes well-preserved examples of Regency, Classical Revival, and Second French Empire.

Wolfgang Kaehler / SuperStock

The island of Molokai is often called "the real Hawaii"—no stoplights, there's a law against buildings "taller than a coconut tree," and more than half the residents are native Hawaiian.

Pacific Stock / SuperStock

There are several residential communities around Molakai, which is also home to Hawaii's longest continuing fringing reef and the world's highest sea cliffs.

Gaertner / Alamy

Set among the dramatic limestone cliffs of Vietnam's Ha Long Bay, the floating village of Cua Van is made up of a collection of docked boats and colorful raft houses.

Patrick Hattenberger / Alamy

We love towns that are long on charm, personality, and photo ops, and we combed the globe to find the best! From a hilltop in the French Riviera to a valley in New Mexico, we've got a wide world of gorgeous villages worth maxing out your smartphone's memory!

This is a search menu. By typing in the search input you can query all of the articles available on the site and get instant and relevant results from the first keystroke. You can close the search menu by hitting the esc key once if the search input is empty. If you have made a search query hitting the esc key will clear the search input and search results. You can naviate the search the menu by hitting the tab key. Once you reach the last search result you will be naviated back to the clear button where you can clear the results make a new search query. If you reach the last suggested entry you will be navigated to the close button. To get back to the search input you have to hit shift + tab from either the clear or close button.

This is a button that clears the search input field and clears the search results by hitting the enter key. It is only available if a search query is made. You can get it to by forward tabbing from seach input or reverse tabbing from either the close button.

This is a button to close the search menu by hitting enter. You can navigate to it by tabbing forward from the search input.

This is a modal. You can exit by navigating to the close button and hitting enter, or hitting the esc key on your keyboard.